Make that three Denver Nuggets who will play in China for the upcoming season. Kenyon Martin will join Wilson Chandler and J.R. Smith in the Chinese Basketball Association. According to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post, Martin will sign the richest deal in Chinese Basketball Association. Xingiang Guanghui will likely pay him over $3 million for this season, which is what J.R. Smith was expected to receive (though it has not been confirmed) from his Chinese team.
Martin, like Chandler and Smith, will not be able to return to the NBA until the end of his contract. The CBA does not provide for opt-out clauses. If the NBA does have a 2011-12 season, Martin could conceivably sign for the final weeks of the season in March and April.
Martin is an unrestricted free agent once he returns from China and likely was heading out of Denver. The Nuggets have Al Harrington or could turn to rookie Kenneth Faried at power forward.
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